[ 2017-05-18 ]

Director of the rebuilt Ridge Hospital, Dr. Thomas Anaba

Sacked Ridge Hospital boss demands answers
The director of the rebuilt Ridge Hospital, Dr.
Thomas Anaba, who was reportedly sacked last
Monday, has said he would not respect the
directive, unless he was given the exact reason,
why he is being asked to vacate his post.

Dr. Anaba, who was appointed in February 1, 2016
argues, he is unable to follow the directive by
the Health Minister, Kwaku Agyeman Manu, because
that was not how he was appointed. He maintains
his appointment was not a political position, but
rather through the civil service.

Meanwhile, government will today, May 17, 2017
open to public the use of now Greater Accra
Regional Hospital which was constructed by former
president, John Dramani Mahama.

Speaking on Sunrise Morning Show on 3FM yesterday,
the medical director whose tenure would have
expired in 2020 with a chance of re-applying said,
per his appointment, his dismissal should have
been initiated by the Public Service Commission
and the Ghana Health Service (GHS) Council,
ideally citing reasons.

“The Director’s appointment had to go through
Public Services Commission for analysis to see if
it was done genuinely. The letter authorizing my
sack, was signed by the Minister to the Director
General, who then added a cover letter and sent to
me personally.

In the Minister’s letter, it was only written to
me and copied to the Director without any
reference.” “I only want clarification for
what I’ve done to be sacked for it to be on
record, because I don’t want posterity and
people to be thinking and conjecturing why I left
the place, so that I can also leave in peace,”
he ended.

The director, whose dismissal came as a surprise
to him, said his position was not a political and
the excuse that the hospital is going to be
restructured, did not sit well with him.

Dr Anaba told the host, Winston Amoah, “I was
taken aback because this is a medical fraternity,
a civil service professional doing his work, not a
political position.

So I don’t see how a Minister without any report
from the regional director to the Director General
to the Council can sit in his office and just
write a letter that you are dismissed, because we
are re-structuring the Ridge Hospital”.

Dr. Anaba, indicated he was served his dismissal
letter on Monday, May 15 and had to vacate his
post within two hours. He continued that he was to
handover to Dr. Emmanuel Srophenu, supervised by
the Regional Director of Health, who was available
to see to it.

“I received notification notice yesterday around
10:15 am to hand over immediately to Dr. Emmanuel
Srophenu, who has been appointed as Acting
Director and within two hours the regional
Director of Health, Dr. Linda Van Otoo, was
available to supervise the process
immediately”.

According to him, it is going to be difficult for
him to leave the hospital as directed by the
minister within the short period, because of the
stature of the newly built facility.

“How can I hand over, it’s impossible for me
to hand over that big hospital with all the
processes that went on within a twinkle of an
eye”?

On the re-opening of the new hospital, a statement
from the health ministry signed by its head of
public relations, Robert Cudjoe, copied to Radio
Gold inviting journalists to cover the ceremony
noted that new clinical services will also be
introduced.

The 620-bed capacity hospital was financed by
Government of Ghana (GoG) with support from the
Exim and HSBC Bank at an estimated of 250 million
US dollars.

The cost of the hospital construction, dominated
headlines in the run up to the 2016 presidential
and parliamentary elections, when the then
opposition leader, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo- Addo,
attacked the then NDC government of inflating the
cost of the project.

The then NPP presidential candidate in his ‘real
state of the nation’ address delivered in
February 2015 accused former president Mahama and
his NDC government of inflating the cost of the
project by $142 million dollars.

His accusation was challenged by the then NDC
government ,as well as Crown Agents Ghana Limited,
the company contracted to conduct the Value for
Money Assessment, on the project that made a
recommendation that the total contract price for
the project was rather reduced by $142 million.

The construction of the hospital is in two phases,
ex- president John Mahama commissioned the first
phase in November 2016 and the second phase is
expected to be completed by next year, 2018.

Apart from it world-class medical facilities, the
Greater Accra Regional hospital, also has delivery
suites, maternity wards, intensive care units and
other modern facilities.

Source - theheraldghana.com

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